In this eight-week module, students explore the idea of adversity of people across time and place, and through multiple modes of writing. Students begin this module with a research-based unit on the Middle Ages. They read informational articles about various aspects of medieval life, learning and practicing the skills of summarizing an article, analyzing how ideas are developed across a text, and describing how a part of a text contributes to the whole. Students then break into expert groups to read closely about one demographic group. They practice the informational reading skills they have learned and explore the adversities faced by that group. In the second half of Unit 1, students write an informational essay based on their research as their end of unit assessment. In Unit 2, students use their background knowledge built during Unit 1, but move to reading literature: Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village. This is a book of monologues told from the perspective of children living in the same village during the Middle Ages. Students have dual tasks: First, they identify the various adversities faced by this cast of characters; secondly, they examine the author’s craft, specifically by identifying and interpreting figurative language in the monologues as well as analyzing how word choices affect the tone of the text. In the second half of Unit 2, students write a literary argument to address the question “Do we struggle with the same adversities as the people of Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!?” In Unit 3, students move into modern voices of adversity by reading concrete poems in the books Blue Lipstick and Technically, It’s Not My Fault. These concrete poems highlight adversities faced by the speakers of the poems, an adolescent girl and her younger brother. Students apply the same reading skills they learned in the reading of Unit 2, but this unit is discussion-based, allowing teachers to assess students’ speaking and listening skills in small group discussions about the texts. For their performance task, students choose a writing format—narrative, like the monologues of Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!, or concrete poem—and write their own text about adversities faced by sixth-graders. Students then perform their writing for a group of their peers.

In this module, students are involved in a study of how an author develops point of view and how an author’s perspective, based on his or her culture, is evident in his or her writing.

In this module, students study how an author develops point of view and how an author’s perspective, based on his or her geographic location, is evident in his or her writing. Students consider point of view as they learn about ocean conservation and the impact of human activities on life in the oceans. Through close reading, students will learn multiple strategies for acquiring and using academic vocabulary.

In this eight-week, research-based module, students explore the benefits and harmful consequences of the use of the controversial pesticide DDT. In Unit 1, students begin the novel Frightful’s Mountain (640L) by Jean Craighead George. Students will read closely to practice citing evidence and drawing inferences from this compelling text as they begin to think about the interactions between people and the natural world. They also will read informational texts and watch videos to gather evidence and trace arguments about the uses, benefits, and harmful consequences of DDT, its affects on the environment, and its use in the battle against malaria. At the end of this unit, students will participate in a Fishbowl discussion to begin to articulate their evidence-based opinions about the central question: “Do the benefits of DDT outweigh its harmful consequences?” In Unit 2, students will read the remainder of the novel, focusing on the how the main character, Frightful, is affected by the actions of other people and her own interactions with the natural world. Students also will engage in a research project, continuing to explore the central question of the module. Students will read several complex texts, both print and digital, in order to collect relevant information in a structured researcher’s notebook. To help them grapple with this issue, students learn a decision-making process called “Stakeholder Consequences Decision-Making” (see the end of this document for details). This process will help students understand the implications of various choices, and will scaffold their ability to determine—based on evidence and their own values—what they believe can and should happen. Unit 2 culminates with students synthesizing all their reading thus far in order to make and present their own evidence-based claim about the use of DDT. In Unit 3, students choose the most compelling evidence and write a position paper in which they support the claim they made (at the end of Unit 2). As a mid-unit assessment, students will submit their best draft of this position paper. As an end of unit assessment, students will submit a published copy, as well as a reflection on the writing process. As the final performance task, students share their findings by creating a scientific poster and presenting that poster to peers during a hosted gallery.

Students begin their sixth grade year investigating the concepts of ratio and rate. They use multiple forms of ratio language and ratio notation, and formalize understanding of equivalent ratios. Students apply reasoning when solving collections of ratio problems in real world contexts using various tools (e.g., tape diagrams, double number line diagrams, tables, equations and graphs). Students bridge their understanding of ratios to the value of a ratio, and then to rate and unit rate, discovering that a percent of a quantity is a rate per 100. The 35 day module concludes with students expressing a fraction as a percent and finding a percent of a quantity in real world concepts, supporting their reasoning with familiar representations they used previously in the module.

In Module 1, students used their existing understanding of multiplication and division as they began their study of ratios and rates.  In Module 2, students complete their understanding of the four operations as they study division of whole numbers, division by a fraction and operations on multi-digit decimals.  This expanded understanding serves to complete their study of the four operations with positive rational numbers, thereby preparing students for understanding, locating, and ordering negative rational numbers (Module 3) and algebraic expressions (Module 4).

Students are familiar with the number line and determining the location of positive fractions, decimals, and whole numbers from previous grades. Students extend the number line (both horizontally and vertically) in Module 3 to include the opposites of whole numbers. The number line serves as a model to relate integers and other rational numbers to statements of order in real-world contexts. In this module's final topic, the number line model is extended to two-dimensions, as students use the coordinate plane to model and solve real-world problems involving rational numbers.

In Module 4, Expressions and Equations, students extend their arithmetic work to include using letters to represent numbers in order to understand that letters are simply "stand-ins" for numbers and that arithmetic is carried out exactly as it is with numbers. Students explore operations in terms of verbal expressions and determine that arithmetic properties hold true with expressions because nothing has changed—they are still doing arithmetic with numbers. Students determine that letters are used to represent specific but unknown numbers and are used to make statements or identities that are true for all numbers or a range of numbers. They understand the relationships of operations and use them to generate equivalent expressions, ultimately extending arithmetic properties from manipulating numbers to manipulating expressions. Students read, write and evaluate expressions in order to develop and evaluate formulas. From there, they move to the study of true and false number sentences, where students conclude that solving an equation is the process of determining the number(s) that, when substituted for the variable, result in a true sentence. They conclude the module using arithmetic properties, identities, bar models, and finally algebra to solve one-step, two-step, and multi-step equations.

In this module, students utilize their previous experiences in order to understand and develop formulas for area, volume, and surface area.  Students use composition and decomposition to determine the area of triangles, quadrilaterals, and other polygons.  Extending skills from Module 3 where they used coordinates and absolute value to find distances between points on a coordinate plane, students determine distance, perimeter, and area on the coordinate plane in real-world contexts.  Next in the module comes real-life application of the volume formula where students extend the notion that volume is additive and find the volume of composite solid figures.  They apply volume formulas and use their previous experience with solving equations to find missing volumes and missing dimensions.  The final topic includes deconstructing the faces of solid figures to determine surface area.  To wrap up the module, students apply the surface area formula to real-life contexts and distinguish between the need to find surface area or volume within contextual situations.

In this module, students move from simply representing data into analysis of data.  Students begin to think and reason statistically, first by recognizing a statistical question as one that can be answered by collecting data.  Students learn that the data collected to answer a statistical question has a distribution that is often summarized in terms of center, variability, and shape.  Throughout the module, students see and represent data distributions using dot plots and histograms.  They study quantitative ways to summarize numerical data sets in relation to their context and to the shape of the distribution.  As the module ends, students synthesize what they have learned as they connect the graphical, verbal, and numerical summaries to each other within situational contexts, culminating with a major project.

In this 8 eight-week module, students explore the experiences of people of Southern Sudan during and after the Second Sudanese Civil War. They build proficiency in using textual evidence to support ideas in their writing, both in shorter responses and in an extended essay. In Unit 1, students begin the novel A Long Walk to Water (720L) by Linda Sue Park. Students will read closely to practice citing evidence and drawing inferences from this compelling text as they begin to analyze and contrast the points of view of the two central characters, Salva and Nya. They also will read informational text to gather evidence on the perspectives of the Dinka and Nuer tribes of Southern Sudan. In Unit 2, students will read the remainder of the novel, focusing on the commonalities between Salva and Nya in relation to the novel’s theme: how individuals survive in challenging environments. (The main characters’ journeys are fraught with challenges imposed by the environment, including the lack of safe drinking water, threats posed by animals, and the constant scarcity of food. They are also challenged by political and social environments.). As in Unit 1, students will read this literature closely alongside complex informational texts (focusing on background on Sudan and factual accounts of the experiences of refugees from the Second Sudanese Civil War). Unit 2 culminates with a literary analysis essay about the theme of survival. Unit 3 brings students back to a deep exploration of character and point of view: students will combine their research about Sudan with specific quotes from A Long Walk to Water as they craft a two-voice poem, comparing and contrasting the points of view of the two main characters, Salva and Nya,. The two-voice poem gives students an opportunity to use both their analysis of the characters and theme in the novel and their research about the experiences of the people of Southern Sudan during the Second Sudanese Civil War.

In this module, students explore the issue of working conditions, both historical and modern day. As they read and discuss both literary and informational text, students analyze how people, settings, and events interact in a text and how an author develops a central claim. Students strengthen their ability to discuss specific passages from a text with a partner, write extended text-based argument and informational pieces, and conduct a short research project. At the end of the module, students will have a better understanding of how working conditions affect workers and the role that workers, the government, consumers, and businesses play in improving working conditions. The first unit focuses on Lyddie, a novel that tells the story of a young girl who goes to work in the Lowell mills, and explores the issue of working conditions in industrializing America. This unit builds students’ background knowledge about working conditions and how they affect workers, and centers on the standard RL.7.3, which is about how plot, character, and setting interact in literature. As an end of unit assessment, students write an argument essay about Lyddie’s choices regarding her participation in the protest over working conditions. The second unit moves to more recent history and considers the role that workers, the government, and consumers all play in improving working conditions. The central text in Unit 2 is a speech by César Chávez, in which he explains how the United Farm Workers empowered farmworkers. Unit 2 focuses on reading informational text, and students practice identifying central ideas in a text, analyzing how an author develops his claims, and identifying how the sections of the text combine to build those ideas. This unit intentionally builds on Odell Education’s work, and if teachers have already used the Chávez speech and lessons, an alternate text is suggested with which to teach the same informational text standards. In the End of Unit 2 Assessment, students apply their understanding of text structure to a new speech. Unit 3 focuses on the research standards (W.7.7 and W.7.8): through an investigation of working conditions in the modern day garment industry, students explore how businesses can affect working conditions, both positively and negatively. As a final performance task, students create a consumer’s guide to working conditions in the garment industry. This teenage consumer’s guide provides an overview of working conditions and offers advice to consumers who are interested in working conditions in the garment industry.

In this module, students explore the concept of personal identity formation and transformation in both historical and modern-day societies. The module begins with an overview of what “identity” means and how it can mean different things to different people. In Unit 1, students read first-person narratives that focus on various social identifiers—from race to gender to socioeconomic status—as they begin to frame their understanding of what identity means. Students read informational text, identifying central ideas, analyzing how an author develops his or her claims, and identifying how the sections of the text interact to form those ideas.

In this eight-week module, students explore the life of Frederick Douglass, the escaped slave and noted abolitionist who wrote Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. The module focuses on the questions of what makes stories powerful and on understanding an author’s purpose. In addition, students analyze how writers use figurative language and word choice to convey meaning.

This eight-week module focuses on a “science and society” topic, engaging students in reading compelling informational text about water sustainability, fresh water management, and how to make evidence-based decisions. In Unit 1, students read the article “Water Is Life” by Barbara Kingsolver as well as excerpts from The Big Thirst by Charles Fishman to build background knowledge about water sustainability and water management. Students determine main ideas and evidence in diverse media and clarify the issue of why humans need to manage water better. They also trace arguments and evaluate the soundness of reasoning and the sufficiency and relevancy of evidence in the texts and media that they engage with in this unit. In Unit 2, students participate in a robust research project in which they investigate the strategies of better agricultural and industrial water management. This research begins with students reading more excerpts from The Big Thirst to scaffold their research skills. Then students conduct internet-based research. To organize their research sources and information, students use a researcher’s notebook. Once they have finished gathering information, students analyze the impact of water management strategies.

In this 30-day Grade 7 module, students build upon sixth grade reasoning of ratios and rates to formally define proportional relationships and the constant of proportionality.  Students explore multiple representations of proportional relationships by looking at tables, graphs, equations, and verbal descriptions.  Students extend their understanding about ratios and proportional relationships to compute unit rates for ratios and rates specified by rational numbers. The module concludes with students applying proportional reasoning to identify scale factor and create a scale drawing.

In Grade 6, students formed a conceptual understanding of integers through the use of the number line, absolute value, and opposites and extended their understanding to include the ordering and comparing of rational numbers. This module uses the Integer Game: a card game that creates a conceptual understanding of integer operations and serves as a powerful mental model students can rely on during the module.  Students build on their understanding of rational numbers to add, subtract, multiply, and divide signed numbers. Previous work in computing the sums, differences, products, and quotients of fractions serves as a significant foundation.

This module consolidates and expands upon students’ understanding of equivalent expressions as they apply the properties of operations to write expressions in both standard form and in factored form.  They use linear equations to solve unknown angle problems and other problems presented within context to understand that solving algebraic equations is all about the numbers.  Students use the number line to understand the properties of inequality and recognize when to preserve the inequality and when to reverse the inequality when solving problems leading to inequalities.  They interpret solutions within the context of problems.  Students extend their sixth-grade study of geometric figures and the relationships between them as they apply their work with expressions and equations to solve problems involving area of a circle and composite area in the plane, as well as volume and surface area of right prisms.

In Module 4, students deepen their understanding of ratios and proportional relationships from Module 1 by solving a variety of percent problems. They convert between fractions, decimals, and percents to further develop a conceptual understanding of percent and use algebraic expressions and equations to solve multi-step percent problems. An initial focus on relating 100% to “the whole” serves as a foundation for students.  Students begin the module by solving problems without using a calculator to develop an understanding of the reasoning underlying the calculations.  Material in early lessons is designed to reinforce students’ understanding by having them use mental math and basic computational skills. To develop a conceptual understanding, students use visual models and equations, building on their earlier work with these.  As the lessons and topics progress and students solve multi-step percent problems algebraically with numbers that are not as compatible, teachers may let students use calculators so that their computational work does not become a distraction.

In this module, students begin their study of probability, learning how to interpret probabilities and how to compute probabilities in simple settings.  They also learn how to estimate probabilities empirically.  Probability provides a foundation for the inferential reasoning developed in the second half of this module.  Additionally, students build on their knowledge of data distributions that they studied in Grade 6, compare data distributions of two or more populations, and are introduced to the idea of drawing informal inferences based on data from random samples.